Thursday, May 08, 2008

Bowling Night Report - 5/9/08

This is my 500th post in almost 4 and a half years. That's not exactly what I'd call stellar performance. Regardless, it's time for a shooting report. Tonight's stage was 17 shots, so it was a bit tougher on the shooters who used Model 1911 handguns. Those usually only carry seven or eight shots per magazine in the single-stack format. Fortunately for me, I use an XD-40 and get twelve shots per magazine. Timing your reload is always important as having to release the slide stop on your pistol can slow you down. My first run was excellent. I had a decent time and lots of high-scoring hits. My second run was a mess; I got sloppy in my aim and wound up scoring worse, including missing a shot on a target.

The stage was a good example of counting your shots and doing a tactical reload. For newer shooters out there, a tactical reload is when you change magazines before the current one is completely emptied. Normally in IPSC you'll drop your magazine since it's as much a game as a shooting discipline, but other shooting groups may have you retain your magazine in case you need the remaining shots. I may try that and see how well I do next time. I know I could use the ammo on some stages. Tonight though, I did pretty well.